Knowledge of Hebrew is very important in studying Kabbalah. It is unlike the sciences of this world, for example physics, which can be learned in any language. Kabbalistic terms in Hebrew directly correspond to spiritual vessels, lights, and actions.

While reading the Kabbalistic text, we do not just read words, but go from desire to desire, revealing the Creator through the change of letters and their sequence.

Each letter is a spiritual symbol, and each word is a matrix. It is like a special secret code, an encryption. Each word, letter, order of words, and the root of each word come from the relationship of lights and desires. The Hebrew language was created on this foundation. It is the only language that has arisen not for corporeal use, but has descended from Above to define relationships between lights and desires.

Therefore, knowledge of Hebrew helps us penetrate deeper into the connection of light and desire, to feel its taste and understand why it is exactly the way it is. We can feel the harmony embedded in the Hebrew language and the internal interconnection of the forces of nature that are expressed through its letters.

When translating Kabbalistic text to English or to any other language, the essence of the explanation that is included in the word itself is lost. Translation gives a more external understanding of the action, whereas the Hebrew word expresses the inner meaning of the desires, their connection between each other and with the light, and the form of filling.

In addition to letters in Hebrew there are vocalization points, crowns over letters—TANTA (Ta’amim-Nekudot-Tagin-Otiot – tastes-points-crowns-letters)—which show how these properties begin to unfold.

There are 22 letters in Hebrew: nine from Bina, nine from Zeir Anpin, and four from Malchut, and five more letters at the end of words, that is, the symbols standing on the Parsa. The exit of the light builds points (vocalizations) that disappear. Vowels are almost never used, they are just implied.

Letters, points, crowns over the letters are all very important. They can reveal the entire wisdom. If we knew the inner meaning of the words and of the order of words and letters—all this is the entire revelation of the Creator to the created beings.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/14/18, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Giving of the Torah – 1”

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Question: Which part of the Creator’s qualities can we attain and which can we not?

Answer: Kabbalists write about the part we can attain.

We can only attain whatever concerns us. Everything that does not concern us, we do not know and cannot even imagine.

Kabbalah talks about what is perceived inside the desire to receive, created by the Creator. If the desire cannot define something, it is impossible to describe. Kabbalah is a purely experimental science.
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From the Kabbalah lesson in Russian 1/21/18

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Question: How do Kabbalists feel about science and technology?

Answer: Kabbalists view science and technology, and anything that progresses the world, favorably, so that people see as quickly as possible that it all gives us nothing.

Question: In other words, are you in support of robots and artificial intelligence?

Answer: Yes, let everything around us be artificial: doctors, lawyers, etc. This is exactly what will help people understand where their true purpose lies, what they must actually be doing in this world.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 1/7/18

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Question: Is the human physical body part of creation?

Answer: The physical body is not a part of creation and has nothing to do with the soul. You can do anything with your body, but the soul develops according to its own specific laws.

Question: What does it mean when it is written that the sparks of the soul fell into this world and dressed in bodies?

Answer: This world only means egoism. Therefore, the sparks of the soul fell not into this world and not into the bodies, but into egoism.

Our body and what we observe, see, and perceive with our five corporeal senses belongs to the animate level. Kabbalah says nothing about the animate level.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 1/14/18

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Question: Various methodologies claim, “Happy is the one who needs nothing.” Is that so?

Answer: In general, yes. On the corporeal level if I need nothing, if all my desires are above the material level, aimed at love and bestowal, outside of me, then this is surely happiness.

Question: Some methods level out our desires. If a person does that, would he be happy?

Answer: A person leveling his desires reduces himself to the level of inanimate creation.

If he does not resist, does not criticize, does not blame anyone or anything, he is happy, but this happiness is emotionless like a rock. In this way he protects himself from suffering as much as possible. However, being a part of the rest of humanity, he will not be able to avoid problems. They will still come through. Moreover, he will constantly feel the need to become something more.

Question: The great Kabbalist Baal HaSulam writes that if a person made a calculation, looked at his life, and saw the amount of pain he felt versus the pleasure he experienced, he would immediately end his life. In other words, the amount of suffering is so much greater than the pleasure. Why is this calculation concealed from a person? We are all egoists. We are constantly calculating.

Answer: This is needed for the internal cumulative process so that we could accumulate multiple evils, bitterness, problems, depression, and come to such disillusionment in life that we would want to rise above it, not to end our lives, but to truly rise, to find the answer to why we suffer—for what?!
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/17/17

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Question: If your teacher were next to you now, would you ask him questions?

Answer: No, because you have to answer the questions that arise in you yourself.

Question: Why do you ask students to ask you questions?

Answer: To accelerate the exchange of views through which unity arises. The faster you can progress, the better. Speed depends on the rapprochement between you, and the rapprochement depends on the amount of discussions in the tens. That is why I’m trying to excite this all in you.

Question: Are there any questions for which you have no answer?

Answer: There are many questions in Kabbalah that cannot be answered. Students have to feel them from the inside.

A question is the desire to fulfill the heart and mind. Getting fulfilled will be the answer. If neither heart nor mind are ready to receive fulfillment, like a child you are trying to explain something to, but he cannot understand, then you cannot do anything.

Therefore, the message (answer) has to correspond with the vessel, the desire, and the intention that a student has. This is the problem.

Question: Did you ask Rabash many questions?

Answer: Yes. I asked questions for myself and for others.

Question: But today would you not ask anything?

Answer: No. I have nothing to ask. I can already ask him questions. If we were physically next to each other, we would sit and be silent.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/31/17

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Question: What does the Kabbalistic principle “I did not change my HaVaYaH” mean?

Answer: HaVaYaH is the system of all parts of the universe (Ha-Va-Ya-H) connected into one formula of interaction of the Light with the desire.

There are only two components in the creation—Light and desire. When Light enters desire, forms it for itself and the desire is ready to be like the Light, then such a system of interrelation is called HaVaYaH.

It is immutable, because it is initially defined based on the opposite qualities of Light and desire, which begin to complement each other by becoming mutually imbued with each other.

HaVaYaH is the structure of a corrected desire that has entered into complete adhesion with the Light. And every part of it is also a small HaVaYaH.

HaVaYaH does not change because the quality of bestowal and the quality of reception are initially given, constant, mutually complementary, and it is impossible to change anything here.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 11/23/17

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Question: What does it mean that Kabbalah is revealed in the world if the main Kabbalistic book, Moses’ Pentateuch has been published in billions of copies?

Answer: And how is the Torah (The Bible) revealed? Its essence remains concealed.

This book was written 3,000 years ago. Its appearance is an extraordinary event. How it is written, its language, is wondrous!

However, the fact is that no one understands the true essence of the Torah, and this true essence must be revealed.

After the Torah, there are Prophets (Neviim) and Scriptures (Ktuvim). These are all great books, but they are written in a language that needs to be deciphered.
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From the Kabbalah lesson in Russian 12/17/17

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Question: Is the quality of mercy, the demonstration of kindness and caring, states associated with the presence or absence of a soul?

Answer: Neither mercy nor cruelty have any association with the soul. It is simply ordinary earthly egoism.

Comment: This is not easily understood by a person…

Answer: If we want to figure something out, we must reject all of our pre-existing conceptions and start with a new page.

This is how it happens in all the sciences, in everything. If I have some kind of a preconceived notion, even more so when it relates to an area in which I have no competency and I could be drawn into a confusion that could last my entire life, then I must first annul myself and only then start to study and understand.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 1/14/18

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Achieving independence is in essence the entire work of a person on this earth. The whole process—from the moment of our birth in this world and before entering the spiritual world and the subsequent development of the soul until the end of its correction—is advancement toward independence.

Independence is realized in achieving similarity with the upper force, the Creator, nothing more or less than that. Until a person reaches the Creator’s degree, power, and similarity with Him in all qualities, he won’t complete his development and won’t gain independence.

Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” “It is written in The Zohar: “With this composition, the Children of Israel will be redeemed from exile.” Also, in many other places, only through the expansion of the wisdom of Kabbalah in the masses will we obtain complete redemption. They also said, “The Light in it reforms him.” They were intentionally meticulous about it, to show us that only the Light enclosed within it is the cure that reforms a person.

Hence, it is clear that only in this way is it possible to reach the independence that we want so badly and to become free, even in the material sense. Only in this way will we be able to free ourselves from the external threat that doesn’t leave us even for a moment, each time forcing us to fight for our survival.

After all, the opportunity to return to their land was given to the people of Israel as an opportunity for a limited period of time, precisely in order to achieve independence that depends on the revelation of the wisdom of Kabbalah among the masses.

We exist inside the system of nature, in a special network that acts according to its laws. It is possible to study particular forms of the manifestation of these laws on inanimate, vegetative, and animate degrees, as does physics (the inanimate level), botany (the vegetative), biology, zoology, and genetics (the animate, that is, everything relating to living organisms).

There is also a part that relates to a person’s inner world. Psychology and psychiatry dabble in it, but their abilities are very limited, and, in fact, this area remains practically unknown.

The only science that really deals with the person’s inner world is the wisdom of Kabbalah. It studies a person as an internal system acting according to certain prescribed laws, and it lets you understand these laws and use them in order to change human nature and bring the person to the good form of existence.

We can improve our environment and make it comfortable by knowing the laws of physics, chemistry, and other sciences. We can also improve a person’s inner qualities by knowing the laws that the wisdom of Kabbalah explains to us.

These laws remain unchanged and absolute from generation to generation. They are ready for our use, unlike the laws of psychology that constantly change, with declarations that something considered harmful yesterday is today considered useful.

The person’s inner nature is subject to absolute and immutable laws. These laws come from the Creator, nature’s highest force we comprehend to creation’s very depths, the nature of which is opposite to the Creator.

Therefore, Baal HaSulam writes that only through the disclosure of the wisdom of Kabbalah can the entire world shift from exile to redemption. The people of Israel must do it first and show an example to all other nations. This is called “to be a Light unto nations.”

In this way we exit all of this world’s limitations. We are compelled to exist in this world in order to support our body, trying every moment to provide to it the most comfortable conditions. We spend our entire life servicing the body, which eventually dies, turning all our efforts to ashes.

However, we can start working on ourselves in order to achieve true, eternal degrees of existence that are above the care for our animalistic body. When we do so, our main concern becomes attaining the upper force and similarity of qualities with it.

To the extent we become similar to the Creator, we receive an opportunity to be as eternal as He is. Then we begin to climb the degrees, reaching an ever-greater force of eternity and perfection.

Of utmost importance is rising above our body that is given to us only in order to accompany us for some time, until we exit it. If I dedicate myself to the care for it, meaning place myself inside it, then I am engaged in a losing business from the beginning.

It turns out that I invest all my strength and my entire life in developing and filling something that will inevitably die. It means that all my efforts are completely useless. Therefore, we simply are obligated to realize opportunities that the wisdom of Kabbalah gives us.
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